Are you wondering why your toddler is biting? Well, don’t worry. Sometimes such behaviours are beyond our control but we can minimize or even eliminate if we know why they use this kind of behavior. Toddler’s biting behaviour is one of the built in behaviours.

Few days ago it was not an important issue for me but when my 1 ½ year daughter started biting me or my son on our fingers (whenever she likes or get chance), I realized that I should search the reason for it. During my search I found many videos, articles and books on the internet. I try to explain some of them;

Way of Communication: According to study, majority of toddlers start biting between their first and third birthdays. Probably the most common reason is that it is one effective way for their communication before verbal skills are developed. However, not all children bite. Some choose other forms of communication, such as grabbing, shoving, or punching.

Frustration: Another reason toddlers bite is to express frustration, a feeling which is very common with toddlers, because both their communication skills are so limited.

For Fun: As I mentioned above when my daughter bites, it is funny for her to see mommy suddenly bolt upright or for her brother to start crying.

Teething: Toddlers may also bite because they’re teething or because they put everything in their mouths anyway, so why not someone’s finger? It could even be something as simple as hunger.

How to teach your child not to bite?

Yes, what I suggest, firstly, make it perfectly clear that the biting is hurtful and wrong and point out to your child how much pain their biting has caused. Express that biting is wrong and unacceptable and that neither mommy nor daddy likes it.

Try to find the reason behind biting behaviour. If you discover that your child is biting out of frustration, try giving them an alternative to express to people they are having a difficult time. Though language is a difficult task at this age, most toddlers can be taught words that are appropriate for such a situation.

It’s not easy but you try to teach your toddler that “You need to tell mommy or daddy that you need help and not bite us” or “Show mommy what you need, but don’t bite. You’ll hurt her if you bite and I know you don’t want to hurt mommy, do you?”

I also found that parents should try not to give biting so much attention that it becomes an attention-getter. This is true of all behavior that you don’t want to see repeated. Firmly tell the child again that there is no biting allowed, that it is wrong, and that it hurts people.

It’s a small share of my experiences. If you have any better suggestion, share with us.